The Path of Duty, and Other Stories eBook

stipulated when my father became pastor of the church
over which he presided till his death. Consequently
we had no longer any rightful claim to the dwelling
which had been our home for so many years. They
kindly gave us permission however, to occupy the house
for one year, but my mother liked not to continue
to occupy a home which, in reality, was no longer
ours. After some deliberation upon the subject,
my mother decided upon teaching, as a means of support,
as her own education had been sufficiently thorough
to render her competent for the undertaking. But,
as the village where we resided was small and already
well supplied with schools, she wrote to an old friend
of my father’s, who resided in Edinburgh, as
to what he thought of her removing to that city, for
the purpose of opening a school. She received
a very encouraging reply from the old gentleman, in
which he promised to render her all the assistance
in his power in the way of obtaining pupils, and as
the gentleman was well known and much respected in
the city, we found his assistance in this respect
to be of much value. The task of breaking up our
old home proved a very sad one both to my mother and
myself. The furniture of the parsonage was our
own. My father had left quite an extensive library,
considering his limited means. With the exception
of a few volumes which my mother reserved for ourselves,
she disposed of the books among our acquaintances
at a fair value, as each was anxious to obtain some
relic of their beloved pastor. The kind people,
among whom we had resided, expressed many kind wishes
for our future welfare, when we left them to seek
a home in the great city. The school which my
mother opened upon our removal to the city proved
very successful, and soon yielded us a comfortable
support. I assisted my mother both in the duties
of the school-room and also in our household work.
We were prospered and lived contentedly in our new
home. We missed, it is true, the familiar faces
of our old friends, but we soon found friends in our
new home; we were cheerful, and should have been happy
but for the sad loss we had recently sustained.
Four years thus glided by, during which time our school
continued to afford us a comfortable support.
About this time I became acquainted with Mr. Harwood,
who had a short time before commenced the practice
of law in the city of Edinburgh, and one year later
I became his wife. His pecuniary circumstances
were but moderate, as he had been only a short time
engaged in the practice of his profession. We
resided with my mother, as she could not bear the idea
of being separated from me. I continued as usual
to assist her in the duties of her school. We,
in this way, lived happily, till the event of my mother’s
death, which took place two years after my marriage.
She took a sudden cold, which settled upon her lungs,
and terminated in a quick consumption, which, after
a short period of suffering, closed her life.
She died as she had lived, full of religious hope and